It’s All Relative: An Unexpected Trend in What We Value

I have a very mischievous mind. It likes to play tricks on me. Say a person walks up to me in a social setting and then asks something casual like, “So what are you reading right now that’s really good?” Instant brain freeze. My jaw constricts. My eyes glaze. I babble for a while until the first book I can think of pops into my head and, inevitably, it’s something I read back in 2012 that has nothing to do with what’s popular today.

The same response comes when people ask me what trends are p...